


You’re My Salvation

by Ashleyparker2815



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bed-Wetting, Drug Addiction, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt Tony Stark, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Kid Peter Parker, Mary is a bad mother, Molestation, Parent Tony Stark, Pepper Potts Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker is Tony Stark's Biological Child, Peter Parker is a Mess, Peter is eleven, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Pepper Potts, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, tony is Trying
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 17:48:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29405775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ashleyparker2815/pseuds/Ashleyparker2815
Summary: Tony hasn’t been around for his sons life and he’s okay with that. He doesn’t think he’ll be a good father anyways but when Peter’s mother calls and tells Tony that she can’t take care of Peter anymore, Tony has to step up to the plate with the help from Pepper.Little does Tony know that Peter has a hidden secret that is slowly destroying him.
Relationships: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Pepper Potts, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 71
Kudos: 244





	1. Forget about me

**Author's Note:**

> This is a new fic that I’m posting. I had the idea a few days ago and wrote this chapter then immediately fell in love with it. The chapter title is from the song Salvation and I recently found that song and fell in love with it and it fits perfectly with this fic 
> 
> A few notes to know before reading: 
> 
> -Peter is eleven  
> -Tony and Mary are his biological parents and Pepper is soon to come into his life  
> -I’ll put a warning on each chapter that there will be mentions of any molesting in it  
> -Mentions of abortion in this chapter  
> -This fic will be quite dark at times 
> 
> Enjoy:)

Tony didn’t know why he was so nervous. 

No, he did know why he was so nervous but he hated that he was because it was ridiculous. It was pathetic and embarrassing and he should definitely not be nervous right now but he was. 

And he hated it. 

He stood in the airport lobby, feeling extremely vulnerable and open while he waited to see a familiar set of curly chocolate brown hair and the same big brown eyes that matched his own. 

The problem was that the sight he was waiting for may not be all that familiar at all. 

Tony hadn’t seen Peter in almost five months. He’s video chatted him a couple of times but FaceTime just doesn’t do justice. 

He was also feeling a bit guilty now since he hadn’t really made that much of an effort. Sure, he was really busy with work and other things and he could make the time to hop on a plane and go see his son but the problem was that he was scared. 

He was terrified that Peter was going to look away if he showed up at his door. Now, all of that didn’t matter anyways since Peter was coming to him. 

Not only was Peter coming for a visit but he was coming to stay. Tony didn’t know for how long. This was never supposed to be the plan. Never. He didn’t think he could do this whole parenting thing. 

He was scared he was going to fail. 

So when he spotted the curly chocolate brown hair and big eyes walking towards him, Tony felt like he couldn’t breathe. 

He didn’t know why he felt like he was meeting a stranger for the first time. 

Peter was his son. He hated that he felt this way. 

Tony slipped his sunglasses on and sniffled, watching Peter slowly walk towards him as if it was the very last thing that Peter wanted to do. Once he was close enough, Tony smiled. “Hey, kid. You’ve grown what, two whole inches since the last time I’ve seen you.” 

Peter spared a glance up at Tony then quickly looked away. “It’s crazy how much someone can grow when you haven’t seen them for five months.” 

Tony didn’t expect that cheap shot but he didn’t comment on it. He didn’t want to start the time he had with his son with a lecture and an argument. “Want me to grab your bag? It looks heavy.” 

Peter stood up straighter, grabbing his suitcase closer to himself and pulling the backpack he had on his back tighter. “I’m strong.” 

“Yeah, I bet you are.” Tony cringed. He had absolutely no idea what to say to Peter. Peter was his son and he didn’t know how to talk to him. It was sad. 

Tony hated himself for it. He wanted to make more of an effort. He should have tried harder because now Peter was eleven and didn’t want anything to do with him. 

He missed out on so much of his kids' life. 

After Peter was born, Tony and Mary lived together and tried so hard to make it work for the first two years of Peter’s life but… Peter wasn’t planned. He was an accident since neither of them wanted kids. 

They both wanted to focus on their careers but when Tony found out Mary was pregnant with his child, he was the one who told her to keep it since Mary’s first option was to get an abortion. 

Two years later, Tony found Mary sleeping with another man in their bed with Peter asleep in the next room. Tony took Peter after that and wanted to raise Peter on his own but Mary fought him and won. 

In hindsight, Tony should have fought harder for his son but he didn’t because he convinced himself that Peter would be better off without him. He convinced himself that he would be a horrible father and he believed it. 

So, Mary raised Peter as a single mother. Tony only ever seeing Peter every other holiday and a few days during summer vacation. That was it. 

Now, Tony looked down at Peter, his son, and watched him pull his suitcase along the airport floor. Peter was used to the heat so once he stepped outside, it was going to be a complete shock to him. 

That’s all Tony could think of. He wanted to ask Peter questions about himself but he didn’t really know how or what to ask. 

Once they got outside, Peter turned to look up at his father. “Uh, where’s your car?” 

“Is over this way. Are you cold at all? You’re probably used to the hot weather in Malibu.” Peter gave a little smile at that and it made Tony’s heart swell a bit. 

The eleven year old scratched the back of his neck. “I’m fine actually. I remember what New York weather is like.” 

Tony tried to think of the last time Peter came to visit him. It had to have been over a year since Tony last saw Peter in Malibu. The fact that he can’t even remember it is sad. 

They walk across the parking lot and Tony unlocked the car. “You can pick the songs if you want. It’s about a forty minute drive home, Uh, to the tower.” 

Peter only nodded and let Tony put his suitcase in the truck for him but he took his backpack into the backseat with him. 

Once Tony loaded up the truck, he walked around the car and looked at Peter who was staring in the backseat. “Everything okay?” 

Peter turned to look up at him. “I don’t have a car seat. I still sit in one at home.” 

Fuck. Tony was already failing and they hadn’t even gotten back to the tower yet. “Okay. I’ll get one. Just, hop in and no one will know.” 

Peter climbed into the car and got his seatbelt on. “This is incredibly dangerous and illegal, you know. You could go to jail.” 

Tony rolled his eyes and slammed the back door, getting into the driver's seat and looking back at Peter. “I won’t go to jail. I’ll just get a ticket if anyone catches us. But no one will catch us.” 

Peter doesn’t say anything else so Tony started the car and pulled out. About five minutes into the ride and still no conversation, Tony clears his throat and speaks. “How was the flight over here? Were the stewardess on the plane nice?” 

“Uh huh.” Peter looked out the car window and sighed. “How long am I staying this time? I don’t wanna miss too much school and my friend Brad is turning twelve next week and I don’t want to miss his birthday party.” 

Tony doesn’t know how to answer that because he doesn’t know how long Peter is staying for. He also doesn’t know if he wanted that time to be a long time or only temporary. 

“How about we talk about that later. Let’s discuss food. You hungry?” 

Peter sighed. “I guess. I’m apparently allergic to fish and mustard now so I can’t eat that anymore.” 

Tony had no idea. There was so much he didn’t know about his son. “Good to know. I will get rid of all the fish and mustard in the house.” 

“While we’re on the topic of things I’m allergic to, something that my body needs is chocolate and liquorice. Those are musts.” Tony looked in the rearview mirror to see Peter’s smirking face and it almost made Tony choke on his spit. 

Peter had some sass. 

“I will be sure to stock the cabinets accordingly.” He added on. 

The conversation died down after that so Tony turned on the car radio, playing some random songs that he didn’t care for but didn’t change it. 

Once they arrived at the tower, Tony parked the car in his garage and got out of it to grab Peter’s suitcase out of the back for him. 

“Would you like to eat or unpack first?” Tony asked him, walking into the elevator with Peter following behind him. 

“I want to unpack first.” Peter said so once the elevator opened up on Tony’s floor, Peter was making a mad dash towards his bedroom that he had there. 

Since it had been well over a year since the last time he needed it, Tony had washed all of his bedding and cleaned his room for him even though there wasn’t much in it to clean. It wasn’t personalized at all. 

Tony gave Peter an hour and in that time, he ordered a car seat as well as some extra food that Peter might want to snack on. He had no idea what he was doing. 

He was going to fail at this, Tony knew it. He knew it and Mary knew it. It was why she took Peter in the first place. 

After another hour and still no sign of Peter, Tony walked upstairs and knocked on his bedroom door. He wanted to see if Peter was okay but he also had to talk to him about something serious and he didn’t know how Peter was going to react. 

He waited for Peter to allow him in then Tony opened the door and looked around the room. Peter had taken everything out of his suitcase and put it into his draws and there was a separate section of clothes hanging off to the side in his closet. “You getting along up here?” 

“Yep. Those clothes I had since I was like nine and they don’t fit anymore so, I guess you can get rid of them. It doesn’t matter anyways since I won’t be here for long.” Peter walked towards his desk and took a seat on his chair, looking up at his dad. 

Tony spotted the same blanket and stuffed rabbit from when Peter was a baby on his bed. It brought a smile to Tony’s face that Peter still needed his comfort items to sleep. 

He didn’t say anything about it and crossed his arms, leaning against Peter’s doorway. “So, I stocked your bathroom with a bunch of stuff. If you need anything else you can just ask me and I’ll get it for you. Uh, are you good for clothes and stuff? We can go shopping tomorrow if you need to.” 

Peter shrugged. “I’m good. I packed a lot of my clothes from home so I’ll be good until I leave here which is when exactly?” 

Tony rubbed at his eyes. He didn’t know and he didn’t know when he was going to know. “We can talk about that later but right now I want to talk to you about something.” 

Peter stood up and walked towards his bathroom. “Me too.” He kicked an old box half full of pull-ups over to Tony. “I don’t need these anymore. I don’t do that so… can you like, get rid of them.” 

“Yeah. I can. I actually forgot those were in here otherwise I would have taken them out already.” Tony picked up the box and set it on the dresser for now. “I’m glad you’ve outgrown that now.” 

Peter nodded. “Yep.” 

“Okay. Well, I wanted to talk to you about something. Someone.” Tony walked closer to Peter and took a seat on the edge of the bed, patting it for Peter to sit next to him. 

Peter crossed his arms. “You have another baby? Is it a boy or girl?” 

Tony wasn’t expecting that. “What? No. No. I don’t have any other kids, just… listen. Sit please.” 

Peter threw himself onto the bed so Tony continued. “I’m dating someone. It’s really serious and I love her. You’re going to be meeting her soon and I want you to have an open mind about it.” 

A frown grew on Peter’s face. He brought his hand up to his mouth and started chewing at his nails. Tony had never seen him do that before but he didn’t say anything about it. 

Peter still didn’t say anything so Tony continued. “Her name is Pepper and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before. I should have but I didn’t.” 

Tony looked at Peter, noticing that he became pale and was breathing heavily. “Hey, Peter. What’s wrong? Just breathe. I know I should have told you-” 

“I don’t want to meet her.” Peter rushed out, looking up at Tony. “I don’t like her and I don’t want to meet her.” 

“You’ll like her. She’s so excited to meet you-” 

“You told her about me?” Peter asked, betrayal written all over his face. 

“Of course. You’re my son and even though I don’t get to see you a lot-” 

“That’s on you! You’re the one who’s supposed to come see me and ask if anything is going on. But you never do so why do you care now? Just… I wanna go back home.” Peter stood up and grabbed his suitcase to start packing everything back up. 

Tony watched him for a few seconds. Part of him wanted to let Peter continue and send him back home since Peter clearly didn’t want to be here and Tony didn’t know how to be a dad. 

But, he was a dad and he had to step up to the plate. It was time. “Stop. Peter, stop it. You’re not going anywhere so just… stop it. Let’s talk.” 

Peter wiped at his eyes. “No. I don’t want to talk because you’re an adult and adults never listen. They always say they’re listening and then they don’t ever listen so no.”

Tony kneeled down and grabbed Peter’s suitcase from him so he could stop packing. “I’ll listen. I’m listening to you, Peter, you just have to talk to me.” 

“No.” Peter crossed his arms and kept a safe distance between himself and his dad. “No, cause that’s what they all say. I just… I wanna be left alone now.” 

“I don’t want to leave you alone if you’re like this. Just talk to me, buddy. I’m here now so let’s talk.” Tony tried but Peter still didn’t say anything so Tony tried again. “Is it my girlfriend? Are you mad that I didn’t tell you?” 

“Duh. I’m mad you didn’t tell me because if you did, I would have said hell no and I wouldn’t have come.” 

Tony didn’t like the language Peter used and he didn’t like that Peter picked that up from someone. “Don’t use that word.” 

Peter looked at him with dark eyes. “I can use any words I want to use. I know a lot of bad words my friends don’t know yet.” 

“If I hear you say any of those words in my house, there will be serious consequences.” Tony warned him and Peter eyed him, trying to decide if he was being serious or not. “Where did you learn those words from?” School?” 

Peter shrugged. “No. Mommy’s boyfriend. He swears lots.” 

Tony had no idea Mary had a boyfriend, she never mentioned it although it wasn’t like they talked all that much. “Oh yeah? What’s his name?” 

“Mark.” Peter answered and Tony noticed the way he curled in on himself a bit. 

“Do you not like him?” He asked. 

Peter looked at him like Tony just slapped him across the face. “I do. He’s… he’s mommy’s boyfriend and he buys me toys when I’m good.” 

Tony didn’t know why he felt jealousy wash over him. He didn’t like the idea of another man spending more time with his kid than him. “What do you guys do together?” 

Peter flinched and stood up. “I just remembered that I’m hungry so can we eat now?” 

.  
.  
.

Peter was extremely withdrawn for the rest of the night. 

They ate in silence for the most part. The only talking was when Peter asked for ketchup and more juice. Tony tried to start a conversation but Peter shot him down straight away so Tony didn’t try anymore. 

He knew how hard this was for Peter and the not knowing how long he was going to be staying for was especially hard for the boy. 

Tony sent him up to bed at around eleven at night because of the time zones. He asked Peter if he wanted to get tucked in but Peter refused multiple times and went upstairs. Tony hadn’t seen him since so he assumed Peter was asleep. 

It was time to make a phone call across the country. 

He didn’t want to but it was necessary. 

“Hello?” 

“Hi Mary. It’s Tony. Peter got here safe and I just sent him up to bed not too long-” 

“Yeah yeah. Let’s make this quick. I'm busy. What do you want?” Mary cut Tony off and rushed out. Tony heard men’s voices in the background. 

“Uh, okay. Well, this conversation isn’t going to be quick so make time.” This was why Tony had no patience for the woman who was Peter’s mother. She never cared to discuss anything with him. 

“I’m busy. You deal with the kid. I’m off the clock.” Mary slurred but it didn’t surprise Tony that she was drunk and possibly more. 

“This is our kid we’re talking about.” Tony walked down the hallway and into his office, shutting the door quietly behind him so as to not wake Peter up. A habit he had to get used to. “I need to know how long he’s going to be here for.” 

Mary started laughing into the phone. “What? You sick of him already-” 

“No. I love him but… I agreed to watch him while you figure yourself out and get sober.” Tony argued back. He loved Peter but he wasn’t a good father. 

“Yep. Yep.” Mary said, reminding Tony of Peter and how he said that before. “Well… I don’t fucking know. I’m high as a kite, baby doll. Why don’t you give me a call later.” 

Tony hated her so much but he tried to remain civil for Peter’s sake. “Stop with the drugs. Get clean and take Peter back because this situation is temporary. I can’t raise him.” 

Mary started laughing again. “I can’t. That boy is too much. Just hire a babysitter, rich daddy.” 

Tony was done. He wasn’t going to have this conversation anymore. “Get your shit together for Peter.” With that, he hung the phone up. 

He rubbed at his eyes. He was beyond stressed with this. His workload was always super crazy but now that he was watching Peter, his workload doubled. 

Tony wanted to drink ten coffees but instead, he decided to go check on Peter. He made his way up, taking his time. When he got to Peter’s bedroom, he opened the door without knocking since he knew Peter was asleep, at least he thought he was so when he saw Peter sitting up in bed, he raised his eyebrows at the kid. 

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to barge in but I thought you were asleep.” Tony walked towards the edge of the bed and scanned the room. There were clothes thrown all over the floor and the bedding on the bed was all messed up like Peter rolled around under them. “Are you okay?” 

Peter looked up at him, seeming to be surprised by his question. “Uh… Uh huh. It’s still early. Time zones and all that.” 

Tony nodded, not believing Peter. If he knew him better, Tony would have been able to tell that something was really wrong with Peter. 

“It’s still late in Malibu right now. What time do you usually go to bed at?” 

Peter shrugged and laid back down, lifting his arms above his head. “I don’t know. After Mark gets home from work… a little after that.” 

Tony noticed the way Peter tensed up at saying that man’s name but he doesn’t comment on it. “What time does he usually get home from work?” 

Peter shrugged again. “I don’t know. Late. I’m allowed staying up late, okay?” 

Tony put his hands up in surrender. “Okay. I’m just gonna say that rules here are different. You’re not allowed staying up late. I know you’re still getting used to the time zones so I’ll make an exception for now.” 

Peter rolled onto his stomach and peeked an eye out at Tony, yawning. “The light in the bathroom is too bright to keep on but the closet light makes scary shadows.” 

It was really random but Tony understood the underlying message. Peter was afraid of the dark. 

It came as a bit of a surprise to Tony since Peter had never been afraid of the dark before so this was new to him although he hadn’t been a very big part in Peter’s life so he’s to blame for that. 

“How about I keep the hallway light on and keep the door open a crack?” Tony suggested since he didn’t know what else to do. 

Peter sat up to think about it. “Mmm. I don’t like my door open. It’s fine. Just… I’ll sleep in the dark.” 

“No, if you’re scared of the dark then I’ll-” 

“I’m not scared of the dark.” Peter eyed him, a challenge to his tone. 

“Okay. Since you’re uncomfortable in the dark, I’ll go bring my lamp in so you can sleep with it.” Tony waited for Peter to argue with him and when he didn’t, he left to retrieve the lamp. 

He wondered what else there was to learn about his child. There was definitely a lot since he missed out on many years. 

Tony just wasn’t sure he was ready for all of this just yet.


	2. A world full of broken promises

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Usually when I write a fic, I write at least 5 chapters ahead of time so I don’t fall behind but I didn’t for this fic so I’m hoping I can post every weekend, I’m gonna write the next chapter right now since I love this fic so much!!

Tony was up all night. 

He didn’t plan on pulling an all nighter but he got into a bunch of paperwork and lost track of time. 

The truth was, he was nervous for Peter to meet Pepper. Not only was the kid's reaction to him having a girlfriend last night an awful reaction but Peter didn’t seem to be the same Peter he was five months ago when Tony saw him last. 

He knew that Peter was growing up quickly but something felt off with Peter. Tony couldn’t say that he knew Peter all that much because he didn’t but he knew that there was something… dark about Peter. 

Tony poured himself another coffee and heard the elevator doors open. There were only three people that had access to his floor; Pepper, Rhodey and Happy. Everyone else had to be let up with his permission. 

He knew Happy was on vacation for the next two weeks and Rhodey was in Afghanistan so Pepper was the only other person. 

Tony felt bad but he had her stay at a hotel for the first night so as to not risk Peter seeing her. He didn’t want all of this being thrown onto Peter so soon. 

Now, Pepper was here and was ready to meet Peter. Although Peter most definitely wasn’t ready. 

He walked over to greet her, pressing a kiss to her lips. “Hey. Thanks for staying at the hotel last night.” 

Pepper smiled into their kiss and pulled away. “Of course, Tony. I can’t wait to meet him. Where is he?” 

Tony took another sip of his coffee. It was still early and he had no idea what time Peter usually woke up at, especially since he was jet lagged. “Sleeping. I think. He’s in the room.” 

“His room?” Pepper asked and Tony nodded. “It’s his bedroom. Why do you say the room?” 

Tony shrugged. He didn’t really know why. “I guess because it’s not actually his bedroom. It’s technically just a random bedroom that he stays in like twice a year.” 

Pepper knew Tony missed his son being on the other side of the world. It was hard for the father but he didn’t admit it. “He’s staying for longer this time, right?” 

“Yeah. I think. His mom,” Tony looked around to make sure Peter wasn’t there. “his mom is a fucking bitch. She’s awful. I will never say that to Peter but… I called her last night and it sounded like she was hooking up with a bunch of guys.” 

Pepper had only seen one or two pictures of Mary and had only heard a handful of stories that were never good ones. “Hopefully she didn’t have Peter around that.” 

Tony shivered at the thought of his eleven year old son being around sex and drugs and a bunch of older men. 

“Does Peter know?” Pepper asked. 

“Know what?” 

“That Mary is using drugs. And that’s why he’s here with you.” Pepper clarified but Tony didn’t know. There wasn’t much he did know about Peter it seemed like. 

“I don’t know. I didn’t tell him… I can assume he knows.” Tony didn’t know what Peter knew. If he didn’t know anything, should Tony tell him? Maybe he could hide Peter from the brutal truth. 

“Maybe talk to him. So he doesn’t think you’re trying to hide anything from him.” Pepper suggested. She was right, Tony didn’t know how she knew more than him. 

“I Uh, I’ll talk to him.” He checked the time. It was already noon and Peter should have been up by now. “Should I wake him up? How long are eleven year olds supposed to even sleep for anyways?” 

“Go check up on him. I’ll be here whenever he’s ready.” 

Tony loved Pepper so much. He honestly had no idea how he was supposed to do this without her. 

He made his way upstairs and slowly opened up Peter’s bedroom door. He was still lying in bed so he quietly walked over to it but then Peter was snapping his head to look at him. “Oh. Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.” 

Peter shrugged. “You didn’t. I was already awake.” 

Tony nodded. “Okay… well, I’ll make breakfast. What do you want?” 

Peter shrugged again. “I want to go back home.” 

“I know. Hopefully soon.” 

Peter sat up to glare at Tony. “That’s so rude. Why would you say that?” 

Tony didn’t know what he said or why it was making Peter so upset. “What? What did I say?” 

The eleven year old rolled his eyes and got out of bed. “Whatever. Let’s just hope I go home soon then.” He marched out of his bedroom and down the hallway but before Tony could stop him to warn Peter that Pepper was downstairs, Peter was already on his way down the stairs. 

“Peter. Wait.” Tony followed him but when he got to the bottom of the stairs, Peter was standing there and staring at Pepper. “So, this is Pepper, Peter. My girlfriend, and Pepper, Peter.” 

Peter stood still as he looked Pepper up and down. He didn’t say anything but Pepper was walking towards the boy with a genuine smile. “Hi, Peter. It’s so nice to meet you. Your father told me so much about you.” 

Peter remained silent. Tony wanted to say that it was because Peter was shy but he honestly had no idea if he was or not. 

“Did you lose your voice or something, Peter?” Tony chuckled nervously. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. 

Peter looked away from Pepper and went to walk into the kitchen but he decided against that and headed back upstairs without a word. “Wait, Peter. Peter?” 

Tony watched his son run back upstairs and then looked over at Pepper, completely clueless as to what just happened. He hesitated because he didn’t know if he should chase after the kid. He felt like he was fighting a losing battle and he couldn’t help but want to count down the days until Peter went back home. 

Maybe he was better at being a father from a distance. He clearly wasn’t doing a good job at it now. 

“You should go talk to him, Tony. He clearly doesn’t want to see me right now. Don’t push him though, it’s all so new for him.” 

Tony didn’t want to but he knew he had to do it. He walked back upstairs but as he did, he thought about what Peter did and he felt so angry. Peter had no respect. 

He knocked on the closed bedroom door and waited for an answer. “Go away.” 

“We need to talk. Can I come in?” 

“No.” 

Tony sighed. “Peter. Please, I just want to talk to you.” 

The door was being swung open with Peter staring up at him, pure anger in his eyes. “What? I don’t want to see your face.” 

“Hey, watch it, kid.” Tony walked into the room and leaned against his dresser. “Your mother has a boyfriend that you seem to like so how come it’s so hard for you to give my girlfriend a chance?” 

Peter stilled at Tony’s words. Tony felt a bit bad but he continued, wanting an answer. “What’s the reason?” 

“Who said I like mommy’s boyfriend?” Peter said, giving Tony a challenging look. 

“You kinda applied that you did. Don’t you wait up for him before you go to bed-” 

Peter turned away from him and started chewing aggressively on the tip of his thumb. “No. I-I don’t.” 

Tony watched Peter’s body shake. He once again, didn’t know what he did wrong. “Just give Pepper a chance. She’s nice and she likes you.” 

Peter turned to face Tony with such anger and sadness on his face. “The nice people are always the worst ‘cause they trick you. I don’t care if she likes me, I can say no. I’m allowed to say no.” 

“Uh, yes.” Tony had no idea what Peter was on about. “Just give her a chance, okay?” He waited for an answer that never came. “Are you hungry? Can you come down and eat breakfast with us?” 

Peter rubbed at his eyes. “I’m fine. I’m not hungry.” 

Tony knew that was a lie. It had almost been twelve hours since Peter ate anything. “Yes, you are. Come eat.” 

Peter turned to glare at him, digging daggers into him. “You can’t tell me how I’m feeling. That’s so stupid.” 

“Okay.” Tony doesn’t know where this is all coming from. “I’m sorry. I’m guessing you’re hungry because you haven’t eaten in awhile so let’s both go downstairs so you can eat.” 

Peter thought about it. He then stood up and walked past Tony to make his way downstairs. He was hungry but he’s hidden in his bedroom plenty of times just to avoid certain people so he was okay with doing that again. 

He just didn’t want to do that this time. 

Tony followed Peter downstairs and past Pepper, straight into the kitchen. He watched him for a few moments, watching what Peter does but then Peter was climbing on the drawer handle to reach the pancake mix. “Okay, get off. I don’t want you falling and hurting yourself.” 

Tony grabbed the box and placed it on the counter, eyeing Peter. “Or breaking the handle.” 

Peter shrugged. “Mark says I’m a lightweight. It doesn’t matter, I won’t break it.” 

“What’s Mark doing picking you up?” Tony asked, he didn’t really like this guy even though he didn’t really have any reason not to. 

Peter shrugged again. “What? Uh, I don’t know. He just does sometimes.” 

Tony didn’t comment on it. He didn’t know why but something about this Mark guy made him feel uneasy. 

He grabbed a bowl and watched Peter grab two eggs from the fridge. “I can cook it. You go watch tv or something.” 

Peter looked up at Tony, surprised. He shook his head since he knew how to cook. He often had to cook for himself when no one was willing to cook for him so he learned quickly. “I’m not five, maybe you still think I am since that was the last time you saw me but-” 

Tony grabbed Peter’s arm, hating how Peter wasn’t surprised or affected by the sudden motion. “Watch it. I’m your father and I won’t have you talk to me that way.” 

Peter pulled his arm out of Tony’s grasp and gave him a dirty look. “I’m just saying, I can cook and I don’t need any help.” 

Tony doesn’t know what else to say to Peter so he left him alone and to do what he wanted. 

He walked into the living room and took a seat next to Pepper on the couch. “So my eleven year old is cooking breakfast.” 

Pepper put her book away and turned to him. “That’s a bit irresponsible of you, Tony. Unless you trust Peter was mature enough to be around the stove, but you don’t.” 

As much as it hurt to hear, it was true. 

He stood up to tell Peter no again, not really knowing how he was supposed to do that. “Here’s how this is going to go,” He began. “I’m going to do all the cooking and you can mix the stuff in a bowl. Sound good?” 

Peter put the spoon down to glare at Tony. “No. It doesn’t sound good. I’m eleven meaning I’m old enough. Stop thinking I’m some helpless baby.” 

“I definitely don’t think you’re a baby. I’m well aware you’re not. Get away from the stove. This is off limits for you now.” Tony pushed Peter away from the stove and dragged a chair up to the counter. “Sit here to stir if you want.” 

Tony saw the gears turning in Peter’s head before he put the bowl onto the counter and made a mad dash upstairs. He was left standing there, confused, having no idea once again what he did wrong but this time, Tony wasn’t going to chase after Peter. 

He finished cooking breakfast in silence with just his racing thoughts. 

He had no idea how he was supposed to do this. He wasn’t father material. He was barely boyfriend material but the huge difference was that Pepper didn’t need someone to take care of her. She was a grown woman who could take care of herself and Peter was a child who needed love and attention and someone to care for him, Tony couldn’t be that person. 

Pepper wrapped her arms around him from behind. “Hey.” 

The small action felt good. “Hey.” 

“You’re quiet.” 

“Yeah.” Tony turned to face her, lowering his voice as he spoke. “I’m just thinking that this isn’t going to work out. Maybe-maybe if I raised Peter from the start and I was there for him through it all but I wasn’t. And I can’t change that. He doesn’t think of me as his father, it’s too late for that now.” 

“Oh, Tony.” Pepper sighed sadly. “It’s not too late for that. He’s eleven. It would be totally different if he was twenty but he’s not. He still needs his father.” 

Tony still didn’t think so. Peter hated him and Tony didn’t blame him one bit. 

“I’m calling Mary after breakfast because I can’t do this. Peter clearly isn’t happy here and I can’t be a father so…” Tony hated himself. “I’m calling her and arranging for Peter to go back to Malibu.” 

Tony called Peter down for breakfast after it was ready so Peter ever so slowly made his way down the stairs. He was bored in his room. At least when he hid out there at home, he had his toys and his iPad so he could watch YouTube videos or text his friends but he wasn’t allowed to bring it so he had nothing but a window to look out. 

He dragged his feet into the dining room and made quick eye contact with Pepper. “Can I eat in my room? Please.” 

Tony took a seat. “Nope. We’re eating breakfast together so we can all talk. Sit.” 

Peter reluctantly took a seat and sat up on his knees. He didn’t want to talk or even look at anyone but Tony had different plans. “Tell me about school, Peter. Catch me up. You’re in grade five now?” 

“Uh huh. The years almost over anyways and this summer Mark promised to take me to the science museum.” Peter clenched his fists. He hated that he was excited for that even after everything Mark does to him. It made him feel belittled and only good for one thing only. He sighed. 

“That sounds fun.” Tony didn’t know what else to say but thankfully Pepper was there. 

“What’s your favourite subject in school, Peter?” 

Peter froze and peeked his eyes up at her through his eyelashes. He looked down and his plate and swallowed, trying to get a read on her and exactly what she wanted from him. “Uh… chemistry. But um… um, my school, it doesn’t Uh, it doesn’t have chemistry class, just science but it was just a term. So… so I have my own chemistry set at home.” 

“That's so cool, your dad loves chemistry too. Maybe you could go down to his lab with him later.” Pepper suggested. Peter looked over at his dad and gave a slight nod then looked away. 

He shoved the last bite into his mouth and stood up. “I’m gonna go back upstairs now.” 

Tony didn’t try to stop him. He already made his mind up so he took both his and Peter’s plate into the kitchen and unplugged his phone from the charger. “I’m gonna go to my office for a bit.” With that, he left. 

He shut his office door and took a seat, pulling up Mary’s contact information and pressing the call button. He waited for it to ring. Just as he thought he was going to get sent to voicemail, someone answered but it wasn’t Mary. 

Tony had an idea who it was. 

“Hello?” Came the man’s voice. 

“Is this Mark?” Tony asked, feeling jealousy wash over him. 

“Yeah… has the kid told you about me then?” He asked and Tony sensed some hesitance in his voice. 

“Yeah, you’re Mary’s boyfriend? That right?” 

Mark laughed out a sigh of relief. “Yep. I am. So, what’s the little monster up to?” 

“He’s up in his room. I was just calling to talk to Mary about a few things, where is she?” Tony played with a pen on his desk, getting extremely impatient. 

“She’s busy right now. What’re you calling for?” 

Tony rolled his eyes. He was so done with this conversation now. “What, are you her personal assistant? Get Mary on the phone. I know she doesn’t work so she’s not doing anything important.” 

He paid Mary a lot of money every month but it wasn’t for her, it was so Peter had food in the fridge and proper clothes on his back and anything else he may need. Judging by his clothes he had in his suitcase, Mary was supplying him with the money so he had no complaints about that. 

“I’ll get her to call you back then.” 

Tony hung up the phone and ran his fingers through his hair. He didn’t expect a call back anytime soon or even today so when his phone was ringing a minute later, he was surprised. “Hello?” 

“What do you want, Tony?” Mary asked, sounding half asleep and it hit Tony that she had been sleeping, that’s what she was busy doing. 

“Peter isn’t happy here and we agreed that you would raise him and I’ll give you whatever money you want for him. This is supposed to be temporary so how temporary is this?” Tony had a hard time believing that Mary was even trying to get clean. 

“Uhhh… I don’t fucking know. You’ve had him for a day. I’ve had him for eleven years. It’s your turn.” 

“I love Peter, this isn’t taking turns with him.” Tony sighed. “He isn’t happy here, Mary, he wants to go home.” 

Mary was silent for a few long seconds. Tony thought she hung up but when she spoke again, Tony realized that she had put herself on mute. “Mark can watch him then. Tell Peter that Mark will be- actually, better yet, we’ll talk to him. Can you put him on the phone?” 

Tony didn’t know Mark but he had been with Peter and in his life for who knows how long, clearly he was a better option than himself so Tony stood up. “Give me a minute. I’ll go get him.” 

He put himself on mute and walked up to Peter’s bedroom. When he got there, the door was shut, as always. “Can I come in?” 

“Yeah.” 

Tony opened the door and held his phone out. “It’s your mom. She wants to talk to you.” 

Peter hesitated but grabbed the phone. “Hello?” 

Tony took it off mute for him and left to give Peter some privacy. 

“Hello?” Peter said again once it was off mute. 

“It’s mom, Peter.” Mary said and a small smile broke out across Peter’s face. 

“Hi mommy. When can I come home?” She hadn’t been there when he left and everything was so last minute. He was told he had to go stay with his father for a bit and then two days later he was on a plane. He wasn’t told very much. 

“I don’t know. I can’t take care of you right now.” Mary answered and it broke Peter’s heart a bit. “Mark is here. Do you want to say hi to him?” 

Peter was immediately going to say yes so he didn’t upset the man but then he remembered that he was on the other side of the world where Mark couldn’t lay his hands on him. “No. I’m good.” 

There was a shuffling sound on the other side of the phone then Peter felt his heart fall at the voice. “Hey, Peter. Are you being a good boy?” 

Peter clenched his fists but didn’t say anything. 

Mark spoke again. “You better not be saying anything to anyone. Are you?” 

Peter shook his head then remembered they couldn’t see him so he spoke. “N-no. I’m not.” 

“Good. Do you miss me?” Mark asked in a low voice and suddenly he wasn’t on the other side of the world anymore, he was on top of Peter and pinning him on the bed, overpowering him. 

Peter shook his head but spoke. “Y-yeah. I-I do.” 

“I miss you too. Good news, I’m gonna take care of you for awhile. Tell Stark you want to come back home and I’ll pick you up at the airport.” 

Peter felt his hands start to sweat. Mark didn’t live with him and his mom, he had his own house but he was there most of the time. Peter couldn’t imagine what would happen if he lived with Mark. He wouldn’t be able to handle that. 

“I’m Uh, why can’t I go back home? To my room?” Peter would much rather that. “I know dad or-or Pepper wouldn’t miss me so I can-” 

“Who’s Pepper, love bug?” His mom interrupted him to ask. 

“Dad's girlfriend.” Peter told her. 

“Oh? Do you like her? Is she nice to you?” Mary asked and Peter wanted to lie and say no but Pepper was nice, she had a nice smile and pretty hair but… he didn’t like her. Mark was nice to him at first too. 

“No. I don’t like her. I want to come home. To you.” 

Mary ignored his last sentence. “You know she only wants what Mark wants with you. It’s all anyone will ever want with you because you are useless otherwise.” 

Peter nodded. He knew that. The first time Mark had touched him when he got out of the bath, he told his mom but his mom didn’t care, only told him that he had to let Mark have his way with him so he did, even if it hurt and he didn’t like it. 

“I-I know.” He thought about Pepper hurting him, she was a girl so she wouldn’t, right? Even if she did, wouldn’t his dad protect him? Maybe not, all adults were the same. 

“Go tell your dad you want to come home. Mark will pick you up.” 

Peter didn’t want that. He wanted to go back home to his mom, not Mark. “Why can’t I come home to you?” 

Mary was sighing on the other end. “Whatever, Peter. If you’re going to be ungrateful then you can stay there.” 

“No, I’m not-” The phone went silent on the other end and Peter screamed through his teeth. 

He hated this so much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a question for you guys... sooo it’s becoming clear that Mark hurt Peter so I’m just wondering, would you guys want a flashback to see what he did to Peter or do you want everything implied so it’s not too graphic?


	3. Could we be enough

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter isn’t edited since I wanted to post it tonight for you guys:) I hope you all like it!!

Peter stayed in his bedroom for most of the day. 

Tony tried to get Peter to come down and spend some time with them but Peter refused and Tony didn’t try that hard. He felt awful but he had no idea what he was doing. 

When it hit eleven o’clock, Tony put his work computer away and stood up, stretching his back out. The plan was to have Peter in bed by 8:45pm so he found asleep by 9pm but he was still jet lagged so Tony was making an exception. 

He made his way upstairs, surprised to find the door wide open. He peeked his head in and found Peter sitting on the window ledge, looking out at the city lights. “Hey. The views pretty amazing from all the way up here, isn’t it?” 

Peter turned to face Tony, a tiny smile spreading across his face. “Yeah. If I look hard enough, I can see people down below and they look like ants.” 

Tony chuckled. That was cute. He walked closer to Peter and took a seat on the opposite side of the ledge. “When I was your age, I used to sneak out onto my dad’s balcony in one of his buildings in Italy and I used to try and count all the people I saw walking in the streets.” 

“Your dad would be my grandpa? Right?” Peter asked, sitting on his knees to face Tony fully. 

Tony wasn’t expecting that question. His dad wasn’t a very good father so Tony didn’t expect him to be a good grandfather either but… Tony didn’t want to tell Peter that. He didn’t want Peter to think that he was following in the man’s footsteps. Maybe he was. 

“Yeah. He would be but… he died way before you were born.” Tony explained to Peter. He couldn’t remember if Peter knew that or not. He didn’t know what he knew about Peter. He knew he liked StarWars and legos, that was about it. 

Peter wanted to know more. “How did he die?” 

“He was driving with my mom when they hit black ice and crashed into a tree.” Maybe it was too gruesome for Peter to hear but he didn’t seem all that phased. 

“Oh. So… my grandma's dead too?” 

“Yeah. She is. Your mom’s mother is still alive. Do you see her often?” Tony remembered that Mary’s mother absolutely hated Tony for getting her daughter knocked up but as soon as Peter was born, the woman couldn’t get enough of Peter and loved him endlessly. Tony hadn’t heard from her in almost nine years. 

Peter shrugged. “Not really. I last saw her at Christmas time. But… she wasn’t really happy to see me I think.” 

Tony didn’t think that sounded right. Peter’s grandmother was in love with her grandson, evening fighting Tony on when she got to see the boy. “She loves you so much, Peter. Maybe she was just tired or something was going on.” 

“Maybe.” Peter yawned and looked back out the window. “When can I go back home? I miss my friends.” 

Tony found it odd that Peter hadn’t cried for his mother yet. He never specifically asked for her, just to go back home. He hoped Mary hadn’t exposed Peter to her life of drugs and sex. 

He spoke to Mary a few hours ago again and discussed a few things. As difficult as it was for both him and Peter, Tony wasn’t going to send Peter back home when his mother was a drug addict. 

“So… I spoke to your mom and we decided that you will be staying here with me for six weeks. Maybe a little bit longer.” Tony told Peter and he saw the moment Peter’s whole world came crashing down. Was he really that bad of a father? 

“What? No. No, I want to go back home to my room and-and my friends. And what about school? I have to graduate grade five.” Peter stood up and lashed out, crossing his arms over his chest after. “I hate you.” 

Tony thought they were having a really good moment but of course he had to ruin it. “Don’t say that.” 

“I do. I hate you. I hate you for bringing me here and for not letting me go home.” Peter wiped aggressively at his eyes and turned away from Tony. “Just leave. Leave me alone.” 

Tony stood up, trying to reason with Peter. “Peter, please-” 

“Go away.” 

Tony sighed. “Alright. Goodnight then. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” 

Peter waited for Tony to leave and shut the door behind him before letting the silent tears fall. He refused to believe that his dad cared for him. He refused to believe that Pepper wouldn’t hurt him and that he would be safe here. 

He pulled back his blankets on his bed and grabbed his stuffed rabbit, hugging it to his chest to try and calm down. Since no one was there to give him a hug or any physical contact, he found himself missing Mark a bit. 

He hated himself for having those thoughts but usually when Mark was done, he would let Peter hug him and hold him tightly in his arms and Peter was too broken and tired to fight it so he let it happen and after a few times of it, he started liking it. 

Now, he missed it. 

He hated himself for missing it but he wanted a hug. 

Peter quickly changed out of his clothes and into his pyjamas before getting into bed. He stared at the ceiling. Usually he got to watch some tv before bed to help relax him but now, he didn’t have that option so he stared at his ceiling and let his thoughts overwhelm him. 

It took a long time for him to fall asleep and even when he did, the next time he woke up, he was disoriented and felt like he had only slept for a few minutes when it had to be longer than that since the sun was starting to rise and was coming through his window. 

Peter stretched his legs out but immediately felt it. 

His pyjama pants were soaked and so was the sheet under him. Peter groaned. He was too old to be doing this. He didn’t understand why he started again. 

After the stress of his dad moving across the world went away, he stopped wetting the bed but then Mark came into his life and shortly after that, Peter started again. 

He kicked the blankets off of him, incredibly frustrated and annoyed that he had to deal with this. He didn’t want anyone knowing so he pulled off his wet pants, putting on a clean pair and grabbing all his wet sheets. 

Once Peter made his way into the hallway, he looked for the laundry room as quietly as he could so as to not wake anyone up. The tower was huge, Tony’s floor was huge so Peter had absolutely no idea where to look or even where to start. 

He turned down the hallway and saw Pepper walking towards him with a tea in her hand and a silk robe wrapped around her. He immediately looked at the floor, dropping his bedding. 

“Hi, honey. Are you okay?” Pepper looked at what Peter had in his arms and it didn’t take a genius to figure out what was happening. She wasn’t going to ignore the child and act like she didn’t see him with wet sheets in the early morning. 

Peter didn’t make any eye contact. “Uh… yeah. I’m just… bored. I can’t sleep so um… where’s the washing machine?” 

Pepper didn’t know if she should play along with Peter but she was never one for having people think they could trick her plus she wanted to help Peter. “I’ll take this there. Did you wash up?” 

Peter immediately froze, eyes going wide. “No. What? Why?” 

She gave him a warm smile before he pried his eyes away from her again. “It’s okay, you know. I’m not mad and I know your father won’t be mad-” 

“No. You can’t tell him. Don’t tell him.” Peter rushed out in a panic. If his dad knew, he would punish him for it, he knew he would. 

Pepper thought about it but it wasn’t the right thing to do. “Does your dad already know that you have acc-” 

“Don’t say it.” Peter gave Pepper a dirty look and picked his sheets back up. “Don’t tell him.” He warned before starting to walk away. He can find the laundry room by himself. He doesn’t like Pepper. 

Pepper watched Peter walk away but stopped him. “Peter, let me help you. Does this happen often?” She waited for an answer that never came. “You don’t need to do this alone.” 

Peter was used to it. 

It wasn’t like anyone helped him when he did this at home, usually he got in trouble for it in one way or another and he really didn’t want to get in trouble with his dad or his dad’s girlfriend, so Peter ignored her question but accepted her help. 

He didn’t know where the laundry room was or even know how to use the ones here so some help would be fine. 

Peter didn’t talk to her the entire time. 

He flipped over the laundry basket that was in the room and took a seat on it, watching Pepper closely. She began talking to him again, or trying to. “You know you can come to me or your father in the future. If this happens again.” 

Peter rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. “It won’t happen again.” He eyed her, waiting for her to say something. 

“I’m just saying, if it does, your dad won’t be mad.” 

Peter wasn’t so sure about that. He knew the only reason why Pepper wasn’t mad was because she was trying to get on his good side, figure out his weaknesses before she took complete advantage of him and he was going to try and avoid that. 

“Yeah he will. All adults are always mad.” Peter said. 

“I’m not mad.” She pointed out and that was all it took for Peter to stand up and walk towards the door. 

“I don’t care about you. Thanks for helping but I’m going back to the room.” Before Peter fully left, he turned to give Pepper a warning look. “And don’t tell my dad.” 

Peter didn’t care that he was being rude and not respecting his elders like his mom always told him to. He didn’t care because she wasn’t there so she couldn’t do anything about it and she couldn’t get Mark to do anything about it either. 

He walked back into his bedroom and shut his door, feeling a bit of anxiety at the whole situation he was currently in. 

He wanted to go back home. 

It wasn’t like he was in a different house a few blocks away from his home, he was on the other side of the country and it made him feel uneasy. 

Like he didn’t know what was about to happen. Like when he would lie in bed at night, trying to fall asleep but instead he waited up until he heard Mark come home and the loud footsteps up the stairs and into his bedroom. 

A shiver wracked his body. Peter walked over to his window to try and calm himself down a bit. 

He didn’t plan on falling asleep but he did so when Peter woke up a few hours later with a kink in his neck, he wasn’t surprised since he fell asleep on the window seat. 

There was a knock at his door so Peter quickly jumped into bed and pretended to be asleep. He did that often although he was pretty sure that he wasn’t all that convincing about it. Mark could always tell, or he just didn’t care whether he was sleeping or not when he decided to have his way with Peter. 

Peter heard the door open so he tried to relax his body. There were footsteps walking towards his bed and it made Peter think about being back at home… he wasn’t at home. He knew that but he didn’t feel safe at his dad’s house. Or anywhere for that matter. 

The bed dipped and then there was a hand being placed on his forehead. By the calluses on the hand, Peter knew it was his dad. He relaxed into the touch a bit but didn’t dare open his eyes. 

Tony was gone almost as soon as he came in. 

When he heard the bedroom door shut, Peter opened his eyes and looked around the room, making sure the coast was clear before getting out of bed and going into his bathroom to brush his teeth and go pee. 

He got dressed in grey track pants and pulled on a long sleeved blue shirt with lego man on it. It made him miss his toys. He wanted to count down the days until he got to play with them all again. 

Peter slowly made his way downstairs and when he did, he seeked out his dad who was dressed in an expensive looking suit. He knew his dad was rich, his mom told him all the time. It was kinda annoying so he didn’t tell anyone at his school since he always found that people treated him differently when they found out who his father is. 

He once lied and told his teachers that Mark was his dad but that lie made him feel incredibly guilty. He hated himself for weeks for that. 

Tony was talking quietly to Pepper about something that Peter couldn’t hear. When Tony laid his eyes on Peter walking down the stairs, his eyes lit up. “Good morning, Pete. How did you sleep?” 

Peter shrugged and made quick eye contact with Pepper. 

“I have to go to a meeting but I’ll be back before lunch. Then maybe we can go somewhere to talk.” Tony put on his suit jacket and sunglasses. 

Peter walked into the kitchen where they were talking and leaned against the counter. Did Pepper tell his dad that he wet the bed? Why was his dad leaving him alone with Pepper? What did they need to talk about? 

Tony raised his eyebrows at Peter. “Not a morning person, I see. Well, tell Pep what you want for breakfast and I’m sure she’ll make it for you.” He ruffled Peter’s hair. “I’ll see you two in four hours.” 

Peter had to stop the gasp from leaving his mouth. Four hours. A lot could happen in four hours. He froze and looked up at Pepper but she wasn't looking at him, too busy looking at some recipe. 

He looked back towards the stairs. Maybe he could go back upstairs and hide in the bedroom until his dad got back. 

When he went to turn to leave, Pepper spoke up. “So, what do you wanna eat? I don’t know if Tony told you but I’m a really good cook. I think I was a chef in my past life.” 

Peter cracked a smile but immediately stopped and pretended to rub at his eyes to try and hide it. “Um… I can just make myself a bowl of cereal. It’s fine.” 

Pepper grabbed the milk out of the fridge of a bowl for him. Peter was surprised, no one ever did that for him. “Uh, are you having some too?” 

She waved her hand. “No no. I don’t like cereal. Only your father eats it.” 

“Oh. Well, thanks.” He grabbed the bowl from her and took a seat on the kitchen island stool, as far away from Pepper as possible. He started to eat his cereal, it’s not his favourite but it’ll have to do. 

Pepper took a sip of her tea and watched Peter. “I want to get to know you, Peter. I know this is all so new for you, your father having a new girlfriend and I’m not trying to replace your mom. I’m not trying to but I want to be more than just your dad’s girlfriend to you.” 

Peter carefully thought about Pepper’s words but… he doesn’t like her. He decided that the minute he laid his eyes on her, even if she is pretty, smells good and does seem to be genuinely nice. 

He’s not risking anything. 

Peter shrugged. “I’m going back home soon anyways so… there’s really no point.” 

Peter saw the way Pepper’s face fell a bit at his words and he felt a tiny bit bad. He straightened up more. 

“We can still try.” She said. “Maybe tonight, just you and me, we could watch a movie together.” 

Peter’s eyes went wide. He suddenly isn’t feeling hungry anymore, in fact, he felt sick. He pushed his cereal bowl away and wiped at his mouth. “No. No, that’s um… that’s fine. I Uh… I’m gonna go upstairs now.” 

Peter practically ran to the bedroom and slammed the door behind him. The first time he watched a movie with just him and Mark was the first time Mark's hand slipped under the blankets and… Peter quickly ran into his bathroom and locked the door behind him. 

It was the only place he felt somewhat safe since there was a lock on the door. He took a seat on the closed toilet seat and sighed. 

He didn’t know who he wanted. He wanted his mom before Mark came into their life. When she would hold him in her arms while he fell asleep, making him feel safe. When she would spend one on one time with him and actually listen to his problems. 

He didn’t have that anymore. He didn’t have anyone in his corner with him. 

.  
.  
.

Tony walked out of the elevator, excited to be done with his meeting and even more excited to see Peter although he wasn’t excited about their upcoming conversation. 

He took off his tie and walked into the living room, finding Pepper reading a book but Peter wasn’t around. “Where’s Peter?” 

“He went to his bedroom after breakfast. I suggested that we watch a movie but he freaked out.” She explained to Tony and put her book on the coffee table. 

Tony wasn’t surprised. Peter was… different. Like he was going through his teenage years at eleven and Tony hated it. He hasn’t seen Peter in so long and it was like Peter was a complete stranger to him now, maybe it was his fault. 

“I’ll go get him. I have to talk to him anyways.” Tony didn’t want to have this conversation with Peter since he knew how it was going to end. 

He made his way upstairs and knocked on his bedroom door, waiting for permission to walk in. 

“Yeah.” 

Tony opened the door, shutting it behind him. Peter carefully eyed him. “Why did you shut the door?” 

“What? I don’t know. Would you rather I open it?” Tony waited for an answer. When Peter nodded, Tony opened the door and took a seat on Peter’s bed. Peter shifted, pulling his legs to his chest. 

“What did you wanna talk to me about?” Peter asked but he had four hours to think about it. Either Pepper ratted on him and Tony was going to talk to him about his punishment or he was going to go back home. Hopefully it was the second option. 

“So, I spoke to your mother, and she isn’t ready for you to go back home yet. She’s still… busy.” 

Peter nodded. “Well, I can still go home while she starts her new job. I won’t get in the way. Tell her I promise I won’t.” 

Tony scrunched his nose up. “Is that what your mother told you?” 

“Well… yeah.” She had told Peter briefly that she was starting a new job and was too busy to care for him. Then he got in a plane and he only spoke to her once since. 

Tony hated that Peter was lied to. The poor kid had absolutely no idea. He didn’t want to tell him the truth right now, maybe later. 

Right now, he had to talk about something else. 

“I want to talk to you about school.” Tony began, half ignoring the way Peter’s mouth dropped open. “So, your mom and I discussed that you will be staying with me for six weeks so far. Maybe that will change but right now, it’s six weeks and you’re in the middle of your school year-” 

Peter cut him off. “No. I’m almost done. I just have a little bit of months left and then it’s summer and I have plans this summer at home. Not here.” 

Tony hoped Peter spine back at home in six weeks, maybe sooner if his mother could get herself together faster. He felt bad for feeling that way but Peter clearly wasn’t happy with him and Tony couldn’t be a father, he couldn’t raise Peter. It couldn’t be his responsibility to raise Peter because he knew he simply couldn’t do it. 

“Let’s hope you’ll be home by then soon.” Tony said and Peter was furrowing his eyebrows at him again, like the other time they talked about this. He didn’t know what that was all about. 

Peter scuffed. “Yeah. Let’s hope.” 

Tony ignored that and continued. “Well… it’s important that while you are here, you don’t fall behind in school so… you’re going to be going to a school here, in Queens. Just temporarily.” 

Peter stood up off the bed and crossed his arms over his chest with a pout. “What? No. No, I’m not! I’m going back home. I’m not staying here. You-you don’t even care about me.” 

“What?” It was Tony’s turn to stand up off the bed. “I don’t care about you? Why would you say that?” It hurt Tony that Peter even thought that. It really hurt him. 

Peter rolled his eyes. Tony noticed he was good at it which meant he did it a lot. “Don’t you dare roll your eyes at me. I don’t know what your mother tolerates at home with you but I don’t tolerate it here so stop.” 

“I don’t care! Why should I even care cause you don’t seem to care about me.” Peter went to turn and rush out of the room but Tony grabbed his arm. “Let go of me!” 

“Hey hey hey,” Tony kneeled down so he was at Peter’s height level. “Stop it. Just… calm down for a second.” 

“You can’t tell me to calm down!” Peter yelled, getting himself worked up. “It doesn’t work that way.” 

Tony nodded. Peter was right. “Okay. Okay, you’re right and I’m sorry. But… let’s talk. Let’s talk with each other instead of at each other. I want to hear how you feel.” 

Peter felt like this was a trap. No one cared about him or how he felt. No one ever cared about how he felt, especially not his mom or Mark. 

He didn’t know what to say or how to react. “No.” 

“Peter, please-” 

“No, because I don’t know how I feel.” The eleven years old pulled away from his father and took a seat on the bed, crossing his arms. “I don’t know what my thoughts are thinking.” 

Every time he said how he felt about something, about school, about fights he got in with his friends that upset him, or about how he doesn’t like it when Mark does things to him, his feelings are always downplayed and he’s told that they don’t matter then Mark and his mom tells him what to think. 

He doesn’t know how to feel or think for himself. 

Tony took a seat next to Peter on the bed, sitting in silence for a few minutes while he thought about what to say to Peter. 

“Maybe I can help you then.” Tony suggested. “I told you that you will be going to school here, how does that make you feel?” 

Peter thought about it. He hated how decisions were always made without him even when they involved him. He didn’t know how to put that into words though. He sighed. “Bad. It makes me feel… not happy. And… really bad.” 

Tony nodded. It’s not much to go off of but it’s something. “I understand that you feel that way, buddy. I know this is all so last minute for you, moving here, having to leave your home and all your friends and meet Pepper, but, sometimes change is good.” 

Change? What am I talking about? This is all supposed to be temporary. Not a change. 

Right? 

Tony looked down at Peter, trying to think about what he himself was even thinking. Being a parent was hard. He knew that from the start but he also kinda was in love with being Peter’s dad. 

He was just scared. 

Peter rubbed at his arm, his thumbnail going into his mouth to chew on. 

“I still don’t want to go to school here though. I want-I want to go back to my old school. With my old friends.” Peter continued chewing on his thumbnail. He was feeling incredibly anxious. 

“I know. And maybe you’ll go back sooner, right now, I don’t have an answer for you, bud.” Tony wanted to make Peter happy but he couldn’t. At least not without sending Peter home. “How about you try this school out, if you really hate it, we’ll think of something together?” 

Peter turned to him with such hope on his face. “Really? Like, actually listen to me?” 

“Yeah, of course. Why wouldn’t I?” Tony got a strong feeling that Peter was ignored a lot about his decisions and feelings at home. 

It was a sad thought, but it was probably true and it broke the fathers heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I was gonna post this chapter but I didn’t like the ending, I was gonna safe it for the next chapter but I was like noooo I couldn’t leave you guys at that part so I made it longer:) 
> 
> When Peter‘s bedroom doors open it means he wants comfort and attention but he doesn’t know how to ask for it


	4. Let’s stop and think

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to update this fic once a week and have time to edit but since I’ve been so busy, I hadn’t had time to get ahead in my chapters so hopefully now I can:)

Peter sat on his bed and stared at his new backpack filled with all his new school supplies. 

Tony had bought it for him as a surprise but Peter thought surprises were supposed to be happy and exciting things. Not school in a different state. He was upset and anxious. 

He looked up at the door that was being pushed open to reveal Tony standing there, looking concerned but trying to cover it up with a fake smile. Peter looked away. 

Tony glanced at the backpack sitting in front of Peter and the fact that Peter wasn’t making any move to put it on. “Are you ready? I’m gonna drive you and pick you up after school at three.” 

Peter shrugged. He wasn’t ready but he knew no one would care so he grabbed his backpack and walked towards his dad, plastering a fake smile on his face. “Yep. Ready. Let’s just go.” 

Tony frowned. He could see straight through Peter, he may not be close with his own kid or know him all that well but Peter was still his child. 

He followed Peter down the stairs and into the elevator. The walk to the garage was in awkward silence. Tony kept opening his mouth to speak but no words would come out. 

It made him feel like such a failure. 

Why didn’t he know how to talk to Peter? Where did everything go so wrong? 

Peter opened up the back door of the car and turned to look at Tony. “You got my car seat?” It was a statement but it sounded more like a question. It was hard for Peter to get used to. 

Asking for something and getting it right away. 

His mom always got him what he needed but Peter had to keep asking her and reminding her. He simply mentioned that he might need school supplies and Tony got it for him. It felt good, to know that someone cared him for and wasn’t just using him. 

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I?” Tony asked, appearing behind Peter and gently pushing him into the car. “Hop in or we’re gonna be late on your first day. Do you need me to buckle you up?” 

Peter turned to give Tony an attempt at a dirty look but it was the simple most adorable thing he had ever witnessed. 

“No. I’m eleven. Not five.” The eleven year old grumbled and climbed in, putting his seatbelt on. 

The car started and became driving down the busy streets of Manhattan into Queens. Peter looked out the window and tried to remember driving around New York with his dad all those years ago, he knew the memories were there but he couldn’t seem to actually remember them. 

He leaned his head against the car seat side and rubbed at his eyes. He was incredibly nervous to start school away from his home and all his friends in a totally new area. 

It also frustrated him that he had to do this, that his mom was too busy with starting a new job that she couldn’t take care of him. 

He felt abandoned by her. 

The other option was to stay with Mark but he didn’t want to be alone with him day and night with no end date in sight. 

He was too scared as to what Mark could possibly do to him with all that free time. 

“What’re you thinking?” Tony suddenly asked, breaking his deep thoughts. 

Peter startled a bit and looked in the rearview mirror. “Uh… n-nothing.” 

Not believing Peter at all, Tony nodded and turned his attention back onto the road. “You know, you can tell me anything. I don’t know what kind of relationship you have with your mother, if you’re close with her and tell her things but… I want you to know that you can, you know, tell me things.” 

“What kind of things?” Peter asked, finding it hard to believe that he could tell his dad what Mark and his mom did to him without getting in trouble. 

Tony didn’t honestly know. “Anything and everything. Whatever you want. I’ll never be angry or… or unapproachable to you.” 

Peter considered that. He looked down at his hands on his lap and sighed. Was the drive to school a good time for him to share his secret with his dad? He took a deep breath and opened his mouth to start talking but then Tony beat him to it. 

“Just something to think about. I’m here for you.” Tony said after Peter was silent in the backseat, in hindsight, Tony should have kept his own mouth shut. “We’re here, bubs.” 

The eleven year old shook his head to get rid of the confession on the tip of his tongue. He looked out the opposite car window and saw a giant school that was three stories high and looked extremely intimidating. 

The car was parked and turned off then Tony was opening up Peter’s door. “I’ll walk you in and if you need me, tell your teacher to call me and I’ll come.” 

Peter nodded, still looking up at the school that looked like it was out of a horror movie and he was going to walk inside and get locked in a Chokey. 

The only reason why Peter was able to get out of the car and force himself to walk into his new, hopefully temporary, school, was because he had his dad by his side. 

It was a weird thought. He had never taken comfort in his dad before. He had always been closer to his mom since she was all that he was used to. 

He wasn’t close with his mom anymore. Not after Mark came into the picture since she let her boyfriend hurt him even when he would go crying into her bed after he left. She didn’t listen or do anything to stop it. 

Peter rubbed at his eyes before the tears started to fall. He had no one. It hurt to think of. 

Tony guided him into the office and approached the receptionist. “Excuse me, I’m here to drop off Peter Stark. It’s his first day.” 

Peter looked down. He didn’t want to be here. He didn’t want to be in New York but he also didn’t really want to be in Malibu at this point. He didn’t know what he wanted. 

He tuned his dad and the receptionist out until Tony was patting his shoulder. “Alright, buddy. This is where I leave you.” 

Peter snapped his head up at his dad. He didn’t like those choice of words. His dad left him once before and he didn’t really know if he would want it to happen again. 

Tony chuckled at Peter’s face. “I’m picking you up after school. Have fun and be good.” 

With that, Tony was gone. 

Peter was handed a bright pink paper that had a room number on the top so he left the office with a new face walking with him. He tried to ignore them but they were talking to him. 

“It’s nice to have a new face around here. I’m sure the cold weather is hard to get used to.” The man said, trying to sound funny but there was nothing funny about it. Peter wrapped his arms around his stomach and moved away from the man. 

“I know what the cold is. I’m not stupid.” Peter frowned. He was at the top of his class back home. Well, he used to be. He’s been slowly falling behind ever since Mark. 

Now Mark wasn’t here. Maybe things would be better. 

“Oh, I didn’t say you were, Peter. I’m sure you’ll fit right in with your new class. Here we are.” The man, Peter assumed was his principal but he never introduced himself, opened the door to a classroom at the end of the hallway. 

Peter hoped his teacher was a woman. He didn’t want his teacher to be another man that could potentially hurt him. 

He looked down at his new shoes, waiting to be introduced to his teacher and when he looked up, he was met with a woman with long black hair. She had brown kind eyes and her voice was gentle when she spoke. “Hello Peter. It’s so nice to meet you. My name is Mrs. Gordon.” 

Peter smiled at her. She seemed really nice. 

He left his teachers side and walked into the classroom. 

His teacher, Mrs. Gordon, showed him where to hang his stuff up at his cubby and then he was being placed at an empty desk with his name tag. 

“Hi.” A boy said. He had a goofy smile on his face that was contagious. Peter smiled back at him. 

“Hi.” 

“I’m Ned. Starting at new schools is scary. I mean, I wouldn’t know… but I’m just guessing.” The boy, Ned, had said. 

Peter laughed a little, feeling a lot less anxious. “Yeah.” He took a seat and placed his notebook on his desk along with his StarWars pencil case. 

Ned gasped. “No way?! You like StarWars too?” 

“Oh. Yeah. My um, my dad… he got it for me.” Peter didn’t remember even telling his dad he liked StarWars but it was simple things like that that made Peter happy. 

“That’s so cool, dude.” 

The two boys continued talking about their love for StarWars that soon drifted off onto other topics. 

By the end of the day, Peter was feeling really good about himself. He made a friend on his first day of school. He was never really good at making new friends so he was beyond happy, he didn’t think he would ever be leaving school on his first day with a smile on his face, but he was. 

.  
.  
.

Tony didn’t know why he was feeling anxious without Peter with him. 

Ever since Peter came to stay with him, he had been wanting to send him back home, and now, he felt uneasy without the kid and he wanted him to come home. He told himself that he wanted to send Peter back home for the kids sake, because it was what Peter wanted but that wasn’t the truth. 

The truth was that Tony wanted to send Peter back to live with his mother for his own selfish reasons. 

He was scared of being a dad. 

Tony walked into the living room and pulled out his phone to check the time, checking how many hours was left until he got to go pick Peter up. 

Pepper walked down the stairs, dressed in a skirt with an elegant white blouse and high heels. Tony felt butterflies grow in his stomach at the sight. 

“Hey. How did school drop off go?” Pepper asked, stopping to sit on the couch. She never sat to talk with him before a meeting so that told Tony she genuinely cared about Peter and he fell in love with her just a little bit more. 

“I don’t know.” He sighed. “I feel like I don’t even know my own kid. He’s… different since I’ve last seen him. Like more… closed in on himself and distant.” 

Tony didn’t really know how to explain it but there was something different about Peter. 

“He’s growing up faster than you think, Tony. He’s gonna be twelve soon.” 

Tony narrowed his eyes at her. “Soon? Not soon. Don’t try and rush time. He’s barely eleven.” He rubbed at his eyes in frustration. “But yeah, I guess you’re right. I just hate that I missed out on so much of his life.” 

“You can make up for all that time now. Oh, I almost forgot, I wanted to ask you if Peter was ever a bed wetter?” 

Tony looked over at her, confused. “Why? Did he say something?” Before Pepper could respond to him, he spoke again. “Oh, you saw the pull-ups. Well, those are old. I keep forgetting to throw them out.” 

It looked like Pepper wanted to say something more. Tony raised his eyebrows. “Is there something else? Did Peter say anything to you?” 

“Well, not exactly.” 

Tony stood up to get rid of the old box once and for all. Those nights were over and he was happy about that. “He doesn’t want me to tell you but since you now know, he used to wet the bed when he was younger. He doesn’t anymore thank god.” 

“...yeah.” Pepper stood up, straightening out her skirt. “I’m gonna head down for my meeting. I’ll see you two at dinner.” 

.  
.  
.

Tony was parked outside of the school fifteen minutes before the bell rang. 

He wanted to be there for Peter and hear about his day. Part of him had a strong feeling that Peter was going to hate it and beg him to go back to Malibu after today and he hated that he had that feeling so he tried to think positive even though it was next to impossible for him. 

By the time the bell rang and all the students started making their way outside and running to their parents' car, Tony was leaning over the centre console and keeping his eyes out for Peter. 

He spotted him skipping down the stairs and to his surprise, Peter had a huge smile on his face. 

Tony smiled at that but as Peter got closer and closer to the car, his smile was fading more and more. That didn’t sit well with Tony. 

“Hey. How was school?” Tony asked once Peter hopped into the backseat, throwing his bag onto the ground. 

“Good.” 

Tony started the car and drove out of the pick up lane. He took a peek at Peter, seeing his frown. He didn’t know what he did wrong. “Do you like your teacher?” 

Peter shrugged. “Yeah.” 

Tony tapped his fingers on the streaking wheel, starting to feel uncomfortable. He didn’t know how to talk to Peter. “Are the kids nice?” 

“Yeah.” 

Tony sighed. “Kid, Peter. You gotta give me something more. I’m trying here and if you wanna make this work then we both-”

“I don’t wanna make this work.” Peter said, cutting him off. 

Tony felt something inside of him break a little bit. He pushed it aside. “Fair enough. You’re still stuck with me until you go home. So let’s make this a little less awful.” 

Peter looked out the window, feeling his eyes water so he quickly blinked the tears away. His own dad didn’t even want him here. He wasn’t good to anyone but Mark. 

“Fine.” Peter wanted to apologize but he didn’t. He wanted to apologize for being such a bad kid and making everyone he meets unhappy. 

Tony stopped at a red light and checked his phone for any texts from Pepper. “We’re eating dinner with Pepper tonight then bath and into bed for school tomorrow.” 

He didn’t have a schedule at home since it was whatever worked for both his mom and Mark so this was new to him. “I’m not going to bed straight after my bath. I’ll go to bed when I’m tired.” 

“Watch the attitude.” Tony warned. “Wanna go up to bed straight when we get home then?” 

“Yes.” 

It wasn’t actually a question, Tony thought Peter was going to say no but when he didn’t, Tony couldn’t back out of it. 

He was screwing this whole thing up. 

They got home but before Tony could even say anything or do anything, Peter was making a beeline for the stairs. Tony heard the bedroom door slam and left it. 

He didn’t know what the point was of trying to get Peter to listen to him or to build a relationship with him if he was going to be going back home soon. There was no point. 

So for the next hour, Tony tried to busy himself with pretty much anything he could get his hands on but his mind kept drifting off to Peter and how badly he was screwing up as a dad. 

It had been long enough. 

He got off the couch and made his way upstairs to Peter’s bedroom and knocked on the door. He didn’t hear anything so he opened it up and saw Peter lying in bed with his back facing him. 

At first he thought that Peter was sleeping but when he walked around the bed, he saw Peter’s eyes open and staring straight ahead. He could see a wet puddle under his head that told Tony he had been crying. 

“I wanna go home.” Peter said, moving his head to look at Tony. 

“Oh, buddy.” Tony took a seat at the edge of Peter’s bed, not knowing what to say or what to do. “I saw you leaving school today with a big smile on your face then when you got closer to the car, it was gone. What happened?” 

Peter looked away and didn’t say anything. He didn’t know what to say. He tried to tell his dad everything on the way to school this morning but he didn’t and he was kinda grateful that he didn’t so now maybe he could go home and forget all this ever happened. 

Tony stared at Peter. “I’m not good at this. Your mother and I had very different opinions on you growing up and we never saw eye to eye. I know that I haven’t been a big part of your life and I’m sorry for that but sorry doesn’t mean anything if I don’t try to do better. So… I wanna try but I need you to try too.” 

Peter wiped at his eyes and rolled onto his stomach so he could hide his face. 

“Do you want me to leave?” 

Peter shook his head. 

“Can you look at me? I wanna talk to you, Peter.” Tony wanted to make up for lost time. 

Peter rolled onto his back to look at Tony. “What?” 

“Let’s talk about school. I want to know because I care.” 

It was so hard for Peter. No one ever asked him how school was. He went to school and went home and didn’t talk about it with anyone since no one cares about him or his well-being. 

He thought about it. “I made a friend.” 

That brought a genuine smile to Tony’s face. “Really? What’s their name?” 

Peter smiled a bit. “Ned. He likes StarWars too and he’s really smart.” 

Tony loved to hear that. “That’s amazing, Peter. Is he a nice boy?” 

“Yeah.” Peter nodded. “He’s funny too.” 

Tony was relieved to hear that. Maybe Peter staying here wasn’t going to be such a bad thing after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you guys think Pepper is right for lying to Tony about Peter wetting the bed?


End file.
